The twenty-five hundred nickel-copper mine,
mill, smelter and refinery workers employed by Vale SA in Sudbury,
Ontario have defeated the company's attempt to impose concessions
and have ratified a five-year collective agreement after a 64-day
strike with a vote of 85 per cent in favour of the contract, with
a turnout of
85 per cent. Vale also increased its monetary offer to six per cent
over the life of the contract from four per cent plus cost-of-living
adjustments that total $2.46. The workers return to work August 9.
The Sudbury workers had rebuffed a tentative agreement between Vale
and the union bargaining committee in which retirement health benefits
for new hires were eliminated as were non-prescription drug benefits
for all employees. The workers, who had been forced to accept a defined
contribution pension plan for new hires after a
360-day strike in 2009-10, have learned that concessions only lead to
demands for more concessions and were determined to defend the
interests of future generations of workers. They also rebuffed a second
offer by Vale which maintained the demand for concessions.
Vale
then launched an ideological offensive against the striking workers and
their union, appealing to the workers and the Sudbury community
directly. According to Vale, the Sudbury mines are the highest cost
underground metal mines in the world, ore reserves in Sudbury are
running out, and Sudbury operations now only make up two per cent of
Vale's worldwide operations, down from five per cent in 2016. The
solution, according to Vale, was to decrease the share of the
social wealth produced by the workers that goes to retirees in the form
of retirement benefits, which Vale claims are onerous and unpredictable.
If the Sudbury workers accepted concessions, Vale argued, Vale would
have the capital necessary to find
new ore reserves and modernize the Sudbury facilities, to ensure the
viability of the Sudbury operations for many years into the future.
These arguments fell upon deaf ears amongst the Sudbury miners and the
Sudbury community.
As
the strike developed, the shortage of nickel on the international
market and an increase in the demand for nickel for electric vehicle
batteries contributed to an increase in the price of nickel. It was
reported that Vale had sales contracts for the next five years'
production. Many of the highly trained, highly skilled and
highly experienced Sudbury workers found jobs at other northern Ontario
mines, and Vale
was faced with the prospect of losing many of its best workers if the
strike persisted. Finally, Vale announced a profit of U.S.$7.586
billion
in the second quarter of this year, including a hefty contribution from
the Sudbury operations, putting the lie to the argument that Vale
could not afford to meet the workers' demands.
The Sudbury miners remained determined to follow the path of
resistance to Vale's arbitrary and unconscionable demands and to
negotiate a contract that did not include concessions, that stood up
for future generations of workers, that had terms and conditions of
work that were agreeable to the workers themselves and that defended
the dignity
of labour. The August 3 settlement and ratification vote accomplished
this.
Congratulations to the Sudbury mine, mill, smelter and refinery workers!
This article was published in
August 6, 2021 - No. 66
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/WF2021/Articles/WO08663.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
